


The Thought That Counts

by Hedgi



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Hanukkah, Holidays, gift exchange cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5447516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hedgi/pseuds/Hedgi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris West has a plan to bring a little joy to Team Flash: a secret gift exchange.<br/>It works.</p><p>Basically, pure sappy fluff. Happy holidays y'all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Thought That Counts

It was Iris’s idea, which came as a surprise to no one who knew her well. Which meant the only people thrown when she put a hat full of paper down on the cortex desk where Harry, Jay, Martin, and Jax.

“Everyone’s names are in here. We’re all gonna draw one name out, and that’s who you have to give a gift to. Or an act of service, or something. Holiday gift exchange, but this’ll be more fun and this way, you only have to worry about one person.”

Jay blinked. “Christmas isn’t until April. And Passover, too, I think. Unless….”

“Here, it’s December.” Cisco put in. “Not Passover, though, but that’s…not really a gift giving holiday?” He glanced at Caitlin and Professor Stein who gave him the affirmative.

“Chanukah starts in two days,” Martin said. “I guess that isn’t something we share, our worlds. Fascinating.”

Iris cleared her throat. “Annnyway, so, I’m thinking we’ll do this in the middle—not on Chanukah, not on Christmas, just… in the middle. Maybe the solstice? How’s that sound?”

“Pointless?” Harry offered.

“Tough luck. It’s the holidays, and we could all do with ditching the hopeless Grinchy-McScrooge ‘tude. So, you get to draw first.” Iris shoved the hat in his face. Harry sighed, drew out a slip of paper, and scowled.

“How, pray tell, am I supposed to do this, anyway? I can’t leave the building without being followed and shot.”

“Hey, that was not Patty’s fault,” Joe raised a finger. “I saw the tapes, you had what looked like a gun and you pointed it at her. I’m sure there’s something you can find to do around here.”

Iris beamed at her dad, and offered him the basket next.

Cisco chewed his lip. With his luck, he’d get Harry’s name, and wouldn’t that be just buckets of fun? Maybe he’d get Martin, instead, he could work with that. Or Barry. Or, hell, even Jax, who he didn’t know that well. _Just not Harry._ He thought, realizing that if this was a made for TV holiday special about “Learning to forgive” and “understanding the true meaning of [insert holiday here]!” he really would get stuck with Harry.

The slip off paper he drew out instead had Iris’s neat handwriting in dying pen, _Caitlin._ Cisco grinned, then smoothed his face, trying to hide it. He could definitely work with this.

One by own, they each pulled out a name, Iris herself going last, beaming at the folded paper and sticking it in her pocket.

“Ground rules: don’t break the bank, it’s the thought that counts—literally. Actually put some thought into it. Gift cards are acceptable, but only if you’re desperate, and you can always ask for advice, just don’t tell the person you got. Try to get, or make, or do, something they’ll appreciate. It doesn’t have to be big—and no guilt tripping if it’s not.” Iris rocked back on her heels. “Sound good? Questions?”

Jay raised a hand “Can I trade with someone?”

“Did you get your own name?” Barry asked.

“No.”

“Then no.” Iris shook her head.

Cisco snorted, guessing that the Spirit of Christmas/Chanukah/Solstice had judged that Jay needed to learn more than he did.

~~  
           Martin tucked the slip of paper into his pocket, thinking hard. This was certainly going to be a challenge, and he already had a few ideas, things he’d actually already given some thought. He’d need to make a few calls, and told Jax as much, hoping the younger man wouldn’t ask to tag along. The kid seemed certain that Martin was in ill health, which he was not, thanks ever so, not now that the Matrix had stabilized. The nagging worry he felt in his own head even when they were separated was quite enough. Luckily, Jax had split off from the group.

“Watch yourself, Grey,” he’d called. “I gotta see mom, that last letter I sent probably has her worried.”

Jax did indeed go see his mother, careful not to spill details—he didn’t want her to worry more than she already did. Her concerns satisfied, he put a slip of paper on the table.

“I have two weeks to come up with something.”

~~

Iris took up her favorite pen, dying again, and made a mark next to a name on a list. She had another lead, and this one looked honestly promising. It was a needle in a haystack search, but at least she’d narrowed it to one haystack. This Christmas was going to be awesome, she knew it. This was a time for miracles, and she was pretty sure what she had up her sleeve counted as one. A small one, maybe, but it would be worth the phone calls, the arguing, and bribing Felicity, scarier even than Oliver on occasion to question a couple guys for. One more call should do it, but—she really should do her day job.

“Detective Thompson?” she asked when a voice answered the phone. “Iris West, CCPN? I have a question about an investigation you were involved in.”

~~

Barry looked at the good sized box in front of him, calculating the weight and his speed, and groaned slightly. This was going to be a long run, but it would be worth it. At least he wouldn’t have to carry the thing across water, thank goodness. It was a hard enough run anyway, and for all his speed, it still took a few hours as fast as he dared go.  
  
~~

Jay walked out of yet another shop, groaning inwardly, and heard a small mew coming from an alleyway. There was a cardboard box, a little crumpled and chewed on, and he peeked inside. Kittens. What kind of asshole abandons kittens in the dead of winter? Jay frowned deeply, sticking his hand in to given the little grey fluffballs some comforting pets. Animal shelters wouldn’t be happy to get a box of kittens this close to the holidays, if things were similar to home, not with so many harried parents ditching gifted pets the week after the holidays when they proved to be too much work.  
            Well, he may not have superspeed, but he doubted the four kittens would care what kind of hero saved them.

~~

The two weeks zipped by with surprisingly few misshaps. There were the usual disasters: an armed robbery or two that Barry put a stop to with Joe and a still in the dark Patty, a house fire started by faulty lights that did only minimal damage before the Flash got it put out. Small stresses and worries were, for the most part, tamped down as the radios played songs like “Sevivon Sov Sov Sov”, “Kalanta”, and “Carol of the Bells.” The holidays did not mean a stop to crime, or an end to the fears they all faced, especially Harry, but there was a bit more calm, a bit more joy in the air—and hope, as well.  
  
        “It’s been quite the year,” Martin Stein sighed from his chair, a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. The team had gathered again in the cortex of Star Labs, though it seemed warmer today, with paper stacks cleared away and one of Clarissa’s brightly patterned shawl’s laid down over a table. Chanukah was over, but a small menorah still sat on one of the tables, the waxy drips cleaned, and though it was not yet Christmas, and they’d never put a tree in last year, Barry had managed to find a rather pathetic sprig of evergreen and set it up in the corner, where Cisco had attacked it with tiny strings of lights and strands of popcorn. Iris too, had decorated, putting up a few loops of tinsel here or there, a small wooden sleigh that Henry Allen had carved years before sat on Cisco’s desk, filled with candy and paper stars. Some were new, others had been tightly folded well over a decade and a half earlier, and faded some.  
  
          Even Harry had to smile, briefly, but he kept searching corners, and Barry understood why. Someone was missing. He knew the feeling too well, terribly well, from the first Christmas he’d spent with the Wests. He’d never thought there could be a Christmas without his mother, without his dad. And for all he loved the family he’d gained, it didn’t take the place of the one he missed.  
  
           “It really has,” Joe said, putting an arm around Iris, who wore a similar expression. “We’ve lost—a lot. But we’ve gained as well. And some things, we find again.” He held up his own mug, full of Eggnog, and there was a murmur of agreement.

             “So. Who’s first?” Iris smiled brightly, glancing over at the small stack of gifts piled on Clarissa’s shawl, some better wrapped than others.

              “This was your idea, Miss We—Iris.” Jay said, glancing toward the hallway. “How are we going to do this, exactly. Keep it secret, still, or—“

            “My vote is for no secrets,” Martin said after a moment. “I feel the need to explain—“

            “Me, too.” Caitlin said. “But then, I’ve never done a, a secret santa, or whatever this is.”

           “Secret Snowflake’s what they used to call it at my elementary school. It was kinda the worst.” Cisco said. “But mostly because we were like, seven.” He added when Iris frowned at him. “This is actually cool.”

          “Ok, that sounds good,” Iris nodded. “Who’s first?”

          “I’ll go?” Jax said hesitantly. “I mean, it’s…not much.” He grabbed a box from the table, not much bigger than a deck of cards, wrapped in plain red paper with a haphazard bow stuck to it. He handed it to Joe, who blinked, setting down his mug.   
           “Thank you,” he said, opening it carefully. It was a box, dark wood that gleamed, and in the top was--  
            “How’d you do this?” Joe asked, brushing his thumb over the image that seemed a part of the wood, a photograph of Iris and Barry as little kids, their faces close to his. He couldn’t remember who’d taken the picture, or when, it was just one of hundreds.  
          “Grey and I, we’ve been working with some—well, there’s a lot more to transmutation than just, flying and shootin fireballs, turns out. I wish I understood more of it, but we kinda…made it. Iris got me the picture, and—I made copies, to practice with ‘n stuff. Anyway, there’s, uh, something inside, too.”

            Joe opened the box and pulled out…”Is this my spare car key?”

             Jax shrugged. “I fixed it, the key fob and stuff. And added some stuff, the little yellow button sends a silent alarm to here. Figured, that might be useful, for when you can’t talk on the phone, or text, or something. Is it ok?”

          Joe shook his head, half laughing. “It’s more than. Thanks, kid.” He put the box down and grinned. “Guess it’s my turn, yeah?” When Iris nodded, he took a package of his own from the table, a bit more bulky, the cartoony paper that matched another gift on the table a bit lopsided.

Jay looked up when Joe passed him the box, as if startled. “What?”

          “Well, open it. Box first, then the card.” 

           Jay did so, pulling out an old film camera and three boxes of film. It looked like new, and Jay’s face lit up. “How did you—“

         “I knew I’d seen you before,” Joe explained. “Around crime scenes with that camera of yours. So, I figured…might be something you actually liked. If not for the camera, for that.” Joe pointed at the card, which Jay opened. “Access to a photography place’s dark room, use of their chemical whatsits. The owner owed me a favor. Figured, might be something.” He shrugged again.  
         “Thank you. It’s been a long time since I—I had to give the camera back, I’d only borrowed it.” Jay smiled again, nodded, and put the camera down. “I have to go grab something. Be right back.”

  
           When he returned moments later from the small office he’d turned into a bedroom, he was holding a very small grey kitten with a bow tied to a slim collar. “Happy holidays, Wells,” he said, offering him the cat.

           Harry took a step back, a glare on his face that melted into confusion. “Why am I not sneezing?” he asked, softening his voice as the kitten reached out a paw and patted at his hand.

           “I may have spent the last two years working on an anti-allergen formula that doesn’t harm animals, or people, back home. Wasn’t that hard to re-create and finish up. She’s not for you, though.” Jay was still holding the kitten out.

             “I don’t think you understand the point of giving things to people.” Harry folded his arms.

            “She’s for Jesse. When we find her. Because we will, I promise you that.” Jay held out the kitten again, and Harry took her, cradling her more gently than anyone expected.  
              The kitten settled into the crook of his arm as Harry nodded, a little stiffly, and pointed at the table. “Ms. West, the box on the end—the thin one, is for you.”

  
         Iris opened the plain box, sliding the thin rubber band that had been tied into something like a bow off. Nestled in a bit of fluff lay a silvery pen. She lifted it, and ran a finger down the smooth surface. “Uh, thank you, Harry. I always need new pens, it’s lovely.”

        “It’s more than that,” Harry said, with an air of downplayed pride. “It has a very discrete metahuman detection function, that button there, and there’s a tracker in the cap.”

         “You made it?” Iris asked, scrawling a line on the box lid. It was dark blue ink, her favorite, and it glided easily. Rubbing at the line, she saw that it didn’t smear, and nodded her approval.

 

“If it’s destroyed, I retasked it to send a last location and alert to this STAR labs. Your job is…not exactly safe, I think, from the stories I’ve heard.”  
             Iris didn’t miss that he’d said _retasked_ and _this_ STAR Labs. She had a feeling the pen had not been meant for her when he’d begun it, but rather than dwell on that, or cry, she simply walked over, and put an arm around his very tall shoulders, a short small hug.  
           “Thank you.”  


Iris pressed the smallest box –though there was one about the same size—from the table into Barry’s hand. “Merry Christmas, Barr.”   
He ripped the paper off, and stared at what looked like a jewelry box, covered in dove-grey velveteen.  
     “Iris? What?”  
       “Just, open it?” she said, suddenly flushing.   
       He did as directed, and it was only his lightning reflexes that allowed him to keep from dropping it in surprise. A slim silver band was pressed into a slot, crested with a small square diamond. He knew that ring. He _knew_ it.

“How?” he finally asked, as people craned their necks to see. “Joe said it was lost in the—in the chaos, that it went missing during the trial. How did you find Mom’s--?”

“I’m a reporter. I traced it, there were some dirty cops fired for messing with evidence a few months after, and I had a hunch. Not saying it was easy, but…I mean, I’ve been trying to find it for weeks, to be honest. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to.”

There was a cord with it, coiled neatly in the lid of the box. Iris helped him thread the ring onto it and he tied it loosely, pushing the small band under his shirt. His eyes were overbright as he gave her a hug, but he didn’t cry.

         “Is it ok?” Iris asked, remembering last Christmas and _friends don’t give friends wedding bands_ and Patty, he was dating Patty…   
        “It’s perfect,” he told her seriously. “Thank you.”

As he went to grab the gift he’d gotten, Harry’s kitten decided now was the best time to launch herself at the table. Caitlin steadied a tall, thin gift bag with a pale blue Menorah on it before it could fall, though Barry was close enough to have caught it.

“This is for you, professor,” she said, beaming as he took it. He pulled out some of the tissue paper and let it fall to the floor, where the kitten started batting at it.

“Thank you, my dear,” he said, though he dropped the bottle in surprise when he pulled it out. This time, Barry was on hand to catch it.  “Caitlin, you shouldn’t have. How did you even…?”  He looked from her, to the bottle of Chateau Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan 1982 and back. Caitlin grinned, reckless with joy at his surprise.

“I followed the rules,” she said when she saw Iris looking at her phone, no doubt discovering that said wine went for a minimum of 250$ at auction. “I called in some favors, like everyone else seems to have done. And I remember, Ronnie…He mentioned it once.” It still hurt, talking about Ronnie, but like Iris, she was healing.  
                 “Thank you, really.” Martin Stein tucked the bottled back into the bag, and put it where the kitten wouldn’t be able to get at it. She seemed more interested in Harry’s shoelaces anyway. “That was very thoughtful.” He cleared his throat, and hefted what looked to be the largest box. Jax rushed to help steady it—it was heavy. “Jefferson, this is for you.”

“Is it bricks? Cuz it feels like bricks.” Jax grinned, but the smile turned to confusion when he opened the box. He pulled out an Intro to physics textbook, set it down, pulled out another textbook, and another. Math, science, history, even a few on writing, and art. “I don’t understand, Grey.”  
               “I know that you lost quite a bit, because of what happened. And while for now, it seems University may not be exactly easy, nothing is impossible. I asked my colleagues for books, and some of their recorded lectures. And once things have settled more, and it’s safer, some, well—I’ll pull what strings I still have. For now, I do hope these will suffice.”

               “I don’t—I don’t know what to say,” Jax shook his head. “I thought maybe, I was giving that up forever—not that I don’t want to help people, but…” he nodded, almost to himself. “Thank you.”  
Martin Stein clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I would be an ill excuse for a professor—former professor, at any rate—if I didn’t encourage this.”  
                Barry set down the box he’d wrapped to join the others in clapping, and Jax flushed slightly, his ears going darker. When Jax waved them all off, he picked it up again, But Cisco had already grabbed the last box on the table, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. He glanced at Barry, then at Caitlin.  
                “Uh—who first?”  
                Barry shrugged, motioning for him to go ahead.  
                “It’s kinda dumb,” Cisco cautioned as Caitlin took the neatly wrapped package. When she opened it, she burst out laughing.  
                “Where did you even find something like this?” she asked, shaking her head and covering her mouth. She flipped the box to show Iris, who joined her in grinning.

                “On the internet. There’s a site, and I thought…do you like it?” He winced.  
                “I love it, Cisco. It’s perfect.” She lifted the delicate chain from the padding, and fumbled with the clasp for a moment before he came over to help her put it on. The gold pendant shone against her fuzzy sweater, an anatomically correct outline of a heart.  
                “It’s very you.” Iris flashed a thumbs up at Cisco.  
                “I thought about—they’ve got DNA strand earrings, too, but they were kinda dangly, and it _has_ been three months now, so…I figured a heart was just cheesy enough.” Cisco shrugged as Caitlin rang a finger over the simple, graceful curves of the necklace, then pulled him into a hug.  
                “Ok, ok, you gotta let go of him, Caitlin, because he needs to open this,” Barry danced from foot to foot. Until they broke apart. The box was good sized, and the weight startled Cisco. He set it down and crouched next to it.

                “What on—“ he broke through the tape and grinned, holding up a chocolate bar. “Jet? You got me like, fifty Jet bars? I haven’t had one of these since Tia Delores came for Christmas and brought some with her, in, like,  2009. How did—Wait. Hold up. Did you run to _Colombia and back_?”

                “Maaaaybe?” Barry rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s uh, something else, too.”

                Cisco dug through the candy until he found it, a much flatter box. “Ok, color me impressed and confused.” He said, opening in. An ornate key lay in the bottom, oversized and gleaming.  
                “Is this what I think it is?” Cisco asked, rocking back on his heels, as Joe leaned over to Barry and hissed “Is that what I think it is?”  
                You were right. Back in September,” Barry said. “We all are a—a team. And I would be here without all of you. None of us would be, honestly, and—I mean, none of any of this, my being the Flash, us being that team, being alive, even, would be possible without you, man. Mayor Bellows may have given the key to the city to me, but—you’re the one who really earned it. Using my speed to help people—that was your idea.”

                “Dude, I’m gonna cry, you know I turn into a sap at Christmas.”

                “I think we all do around the holidays,” Joe said, topping up his mug from the carafe of eggnog and taking a long sip. “Something in the air.”  
                “Happy holidays, everyone,” Barry slung an arm around Caitlin’s shoulders, and Cisco’s, and Iris tucked herself into the hug, one that not even Martin or Harry could avoid, the kitten winding herway across arms and shoulders. Even Joe and Jax pressed in, like a bit of lacework or yarn snowflake, all tangled. Just as they started to break apart, Jay got loose, and snapped a picture with a flash like lightning.

               

              

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the formatting.  
> the necklace Cisco got Caitlin can be seen/purchased here: http://www.boutiqueacademia.com/products/Anatomical-Heart-Necklace.html
> 
> comment?


End file.
